Strange Allies and Stranger Victories
by Alatar Maia
Summary: It's the moment that everything so far has been leading up to - the victory of the gods over giants, the battle with Gaea and her army. Except...it doesn't go quite like anyone expected it to. And neither does what happens in the aftermath.


**Only one of you managed to guess who would be showing up in this one! I'm not saying who, in case someone goes back to the other reviews and tries to get a spoiler. In any case, I doubt the rest of you will be expecting this.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes of Olympus**

* * *

It was done.

They'd won.

Except...they hadn't.

Damn Percy's nosebleed.

All that was left of the giants was a few piles of ashy sand and some stray spears. There was a pile of dreadlocks on fire, but none of the gods paid any attention to it.

The Argo II was still aloft, but it looked like it wouldn't stay up for much longer - the ship was a wreck. Oars missing, rigging tangled, the hull streaming smoke from several nasty holes and twisted gashes in the metal.

Leo was smoking almost as much, but next to Hephaestus it only served to highlight the resemblance. The seven demigods formed a loose group, while the gods fanned out into a semicircle. None of them seemed particularly happy, even though they'd just collectively beaten the shit out of a bunch of giants.

Annabeth could hardly believe that Zeus was still angry at Hera and Apollo. Well, true, she was still angry at the goddess for taking away Percy and wiping his memory. It was only too easy. But, grudgingly, she'd admitted to herself that the plan _had_ worked.

Apollo looked terrified in the face of Zeus's lecture. Annabeth still wasn't sure exactly what he'd done, but it explained why he and Artemis had looked like they were trying to hide in the shadow of one of the pillars.

"You must return to camp," Athena said when Apollo had been whisked back up to Olympus to 'await' whatever sentence Zeus would levy upon him. "Gaea is fully conscious now. She will not hesitate."

"Why camp?" Leo questioned. "Percy's nosebleed was here."

"Don't blame my nose," Percy said defensively. Annabeth felt guilt curdle in her chest. It had been _her_ blood, too - the gash on her leg still ached.

"Gaea said that's what she was going to do," Frank pointed out. "Number one on her evil to-do list was destroy camp."

"But how do we get back in time?" Hazel sounded worried. "It took us ages just to get _here_ -"

"That," a new voice said, "I can help with."

They all spun as one to face the source.

The man - or being - raised an eyebrow, appearing perfectly unbothered by the fact that twelve gods were staring him down. "What? I came by to help. Don't tell me you don't need it, 'cause you do."

"Gabriel?" Annabeth questioned. What was _he_ doing here? She saw most of the seven do a double-take; they'd be curious, of course. Only she and Percy, of the seven of them, had been there the last time they'd met Gabriel.

"What business do you have here?" Zeus rumbled. He was glaring at Gabriel, but didn't make a move to attack. Annabeth saw Hermes out of the corner of her eye, looking like he wasn't sure whether to greet Gabriel or not.

"Thought I'd drop by." Gabriel shrugged. "I do kind of owe you guys one, but you knew that already. It would be rude to let the rest of my family pay off the debt without doing anything myself, y'know?"

"You couldn't have intervened _before_ Gaea woke?" Poseidon asked skeptically. "It would have been within your powers to stop any blood from touching the ground."

"Well, sure." Gabriel admitted. "But I owe the camp, collectively. Does this look like Camp Half-Blood to you?" He gestured expansively to their surroundings. "Granted, if we wait long enough, it's what the camp is _gonna_ look like. Which is why _I'm_ volunteering to cart you guys home."

Annabeth felt like she'd been slapped. _He could have stopped all of this?_ What the hell had Gabriel been _thinking_?

"Let's go, then." Leo was vibrating with either nerves or excitement. "What do we gotta do?"

Gabriel smirked. "Get on your ship."

He didn't even wait for them to reply, snapping his fingers. Instantly they were all standing on the deck of the Argo II, though not completely unharmed. Annabeth's stomach roiled at the sudden transportation. Jason had gone green.

"Oh, gods." Piper had bent over. "Was that necessary?"

"I don't control how it affects you," Gabriel said cheerfully. "Nice ship, by the way."

"Thanks-" Leo didn't even get through the entire sentence before Gabriel snapped his fingers again.

The ship lurched around them, swaying dizzyingly and sending another wave of nausea through Annabeth. She grabbed the railing for support. If she'd eaten anything more recently than that morning, she probably have thrown up.

"Holy _crap._ " Frank was leaning over the railing. "We just crossed half the planet in a second."

"You're welcome." Gabriel leaned against the mast. "You probably won't need to worry about Gaea for a while, anyway."

"What?" They all turned towards him. "Why?" Hazel demanded.

"Well, a) you got that giant-ass Athena protecting you now." Gabriel jerked a thumb at the tall white statue. "That thing's so pumped full of magic I could feel it from Greece. B), I went around and talked to a couple other Earth spirits. Greeks ain't the only ones who have a 'Mother Earth' figure." The archangel smirked again. "And believe me, they aren't happy that Gaea's trying to put herself in charge."

Annabeth stared. "What are you saying? The Earth's having an identity crisis?"

"If you wanna put it like that." Gabriel glanced at the ground below them, though there wasn't much to see unless you leaned over the railing and looked directly down. "I believe you've got some monster ass to kick, though. See ya down below."

He vanished with a rustling noise that could easily be mistaken for wings.

"That was an angel?" Piper said disbelievingly.

"I don't even care." Frank said. "If he's given us more time to get rid of Gaea's army before she shows up, all the better. We've got to get down there."

"Got it." Leo dashed around, managing to find a rope ladder that hadn't been incinerated or torn. "What if Gaea doesn't show up at all? I mean, if there's more than one Mother Earth fighting for dominance, what happens if a different one wins?"

"We'll worry about that later," Annabeth said, but she couldn't help but wonder.

Gabriel hadn't said if the other ones were any nicer.

* * *

Annabeth fought viciously, trying not to let memories of Tartarus overwhelm her.

She was safe. She didn't need to panic. She had allies other than Percy.

But the monsters were making it hard to remember.

The flashes of wildness in Percy's eyes, when they managed to meet hers, told her she wasn't alone in that. But on the battlefield there wasn't any time to talk it out or get therapy or whatever you were supposed to do with trauma.

Occasionally she thought she saw flashes of familiarity - blond hair, a crackle of power that no demigod had and wasn't the Legion's lightning eagle. A flash of grey and a wolf looming over the battlefield. A blurred streak of roan, followed by brown, as two superfast horses raced around and helped their riders kill stuff.

Coupled with almost the entirety of camp Half-Blood and five cohorts of eager demigods, they were taking down monsters fairly quickly. Leo, still on the Argo and occasionally sending down bursts of Greek fire, was doing _something_ the ship that he'd been sure would help. Annabeth trusted him to let him stay onboard alone.

Unfortunately, it was never that easy.

The ground rumbled underneath them, making demigods and monsters alike stumble. The ground liquefied, turning into a sludge that sucked at Annabeth's shoes. She had to move quickly to avoid being buried, but some weren't so lucky.

 _Foolish demigods._ The voice rumbled through Annabeth's bones. The mud was gathering itself into something else on one of the hilltops; a woman draped in a veil. This time, her eyes were wide open. And angry. _You thought you could win?  
_

"If it helps, I did too." Annabeth whirled around at the voice behind her, but her foot caught in the mud and she fell. A hand caught her by the shoulder. "Whoa."

"Do something!" She demanded. Gabriel just looked down at her, cocking one eyebrow.

"I don't need to. Your pal in the flying ship's got it covered." Gabriel pointed upwards.

Annabeth looked up.

Something was happening to the ship.

Demigods scattered as the ship shed metal and what remained of the oars.

"Leo!" Someone was shouting, but Annabeth couldn't tell who. Gabriel was still holding her arm.

"What's he doing?" She said, heart racing. Gabriel just smirked and vanished again.

The ship overhead became something else.

Festus roared, fire spitting out of his mouth as his wings spread. Annabeth didn't even have time to process the fact that Leo had somehow managed to turn the ship _back_ into a dragon before Festus was diving, claws reaching, and then soaring back up.

He'd _picked up_ Gaea.

The ground solidified as soon as he did, leaving some people half-buried. The tiny figure on Festus's back had to be Leo. _How long had he been planning this?_

Jason shot past Annabeth in a gust of wind. She saw Piper in his arms, heard Piper shouting.

"You're sleepy! So-o sleepy. Your kids are so ungrateful! You're so _tired_ of it." The charmspeak settled heavily into Annabeth, and only the adrenalin of battle and leftover panic from Tartarus kept her from closing her eyes there and then.

Leo was a _genius._

* * *

All thoughts of being glad for that plan disappeared when Festus exploded in midair with Leo still on his back.

* * *

"Yo."

Annabeth nearly spit out her drink when _that_ voice came out of nowhere. She nearly choked on the mouthful she still had when she saw who Gabriel had slung over his shoulder.

Gabriel let Leo slide to the floor, hands raised and stepping back from the chaos of six demigods all trying to grab Leo and make sure he was really alive.

"How did you-" Chiron looked speechless.

"As a note," Gabriel said, ignoring the question, "he was freaking out about someplace called 'Ogygia' before he passed out, so I'd be prepared for more of that."

Annabeth noticed how Percy stiffened at the mention of Ogygia, but ignored it. Now wasn't the time for that.

"Thank you," Hazel said. She looked slightly tearful. "I - I wasn't sure-"

"Whether this would work?" Gabriel held up a syringe of something orange and ominous-looking. "It might've, if his dragon didn't get blown up. But you're welcome."

"You're being awfully nice about all this," Hermes said. He was lounging at the head of the table, having returned shortly after the battle ended to resume his new post as director. "Hephaestus will be happy. But I doubt that's why you did it."

"Don't make this sappy, Hermes." Gabriel flopped into a seat next to the god. "Oooh, pinochle. I don't remember how to play. Cut me in." He appeared to have completely forgotten about Leo.

"Should we take him to the infirmary?" Annabeth cast an eye over Leo, but couldn't see any obvious injuries. Or any trace of the scars and such he'd accumulated, like the rest of them, on their quest.

"How, exactly, did you bring Leo back?" Chiron asked hesitantly. He seemed much warier of Gabriel than he had before, but then again Gabriel had been human before.

"I just snagged his soul before it got to Hades," Gabriel said idly. "No biggie. He's just unconscious from, y'know, the shock of being dead."

Hermes made a sympathetic face, dealing out the cards.

"His soul?" Annabeth really shouldn't have been surprised. "You just..what, grabbed it and shoved it back in his body?"

"Like it's hard? I deal in souls. Angel, remember?" Gabriel was messing with his cards, shuffling them and managing to get them everywhere without Annabeth (or anyone else, she guessed) being able to see anything other than the blue-patterned back.

Percy snorted, shaking his head. "You've got crazy ways of paying back a debt." He didn't sound scornful, which was probably why Gabriel grinned back at him.

"I take pride in it," Gabriel said. "Now go fuss over your ex-dead friend or something. I've got a game to play."

* * *

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